Cora Bissett’s Glasgow Girls up for theatre award

Glasgow Girls won acclaim when it was first staged at Glasgow's Citizens' Theatre. Picture: Robert Perry

BRIAN FERGUSON

A STAGE show inspired by the true story of the schoolgirl campaigners who went to Holyrood to protest against the plight of asylum seekers in Glasgow is in the running for a prestigious award.

Glasgow Girls, Cora Bissett’s show for the National Theatre of Scotland, is on a shortlist of three for best musical production at the UK Theatre Awards next month.

The actress, writer and director has already won several awards for Roadkill, her powerful play about sex-trafficking, which was a huge hit at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2010 and is still touring.

Glasgow Girls won widespread acclaim when it was first staged at the Citizens’ Theatre in the city last autumn, and during a subsequent run in London earlier this year. However it was overlooked in the Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland, which were held in the summer.

The show was based on the events which unfolded eight years ago after a schoolgirl at Drumchapel High was threatened with deportation after a dawn raid on her home.

A group of friends mounted a high-profile campaign targeting both the Scottish Government and the Home Office.

Glasgow Girls became a feel-good musical billed as “a celebration of Glasgow and the power of teenagers with a cause.”

It is one of two NTS shows in the running for awards, with Let The Right One In, John Tiffany’s adaptation of the hit book and film, shortlisted for best design.

The show was originally staged at Dundee Rep earlier this year but is about to be revived at the Royal Court Theatre in London.

Actress Sally Reid is shortlisted for best supporting performance for Time and the Conways, a joint production between Dundee Rep and the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh.

Laurie Sansom, artistic director of NTS, said: “I’m delighted that two of our major productions this year have been recognised by the UK Theatre Awards.

“I want to congratulate all the artists involved in both shows for their creative excellence and hard work. Both productions were created with a host of partners whose support was invaluable.”